Loaded guns found in room with child's cot

A handful of men are facing serious firearms charges after a series of suspicious sales of Alfa Carbine rifles at a firearms retailer were identified by police.

The charges against the five men, aged between 22 and 60, relate to the unlawful possession of firearms, dishonesty, and offences against the Firearms Registry after police executed search warrants across the Nelson area in recent days.

One of the men also faces charges including intentionally not registering firearms, incorrect storage of firearms, and neglect of a child.

The charges were laid after the discovery in June this year of three loaded firearms located leaning up against a wall in a bedroom containing a child’s cot. All the firearms had rounds chambered and safety switches disengaged, meaning the only action required to discharge the firearms was to pull the trigger.

Two of the men charged are, or were, employed by a firearms retailer and used their position to facilitate the diversion of firearms.

Four of the five men charged are firearms license holders, and the fifth previously had his firearms license revoked.

The investigation as a whole related to the historic diversion of firearms – meaning, firearms purchased legally but then ‘diverted’ into the possession of people without firearms licenses.

Police analysis of the historical firearms sales data of a firearms retailer identified a series of suspicious sales of Alfa Carbine rifles.

The Alfa Carbine rifle has been identified as a firearm commonly diverted due to the ease with which it can be converted into a pistol and is highly sought after by criminal groups and gangs.

Most of the offending took place during 2021 and 2022. It is alleged one of the methods for diversion used by the retail firearms insiders was to fraudulently list the sales of Alfa Carbines against the name of a legitimate licence holder without their knowledge, but then provide the firearms to unlicenced people. On this occasion, three Alfa Carbines were listed against that firearms licence holder.

On another occasion, one of the retail firearms insiders paid $9,700 in cash and used an associate’s firearms licence to register the sale of five Alfa Carbines.

Overall, in this investigation police allege to have identified at least 19 Alfa Carbines purchased and diverted between October 2021 and May 2022.

“It is extremely disappointing to see that the efforts of Police, Te Tari Pūreke, and the wider firearms community being undermined by the irresponsible actions of a few individuals, particularly those industry insiders within dealers and in positions of trust,” detective inspector Albie Alexander says.

“This further demonstrates the need for firearms retailers to remain vigilant and ensure they are meeting their obligations, along with the need for a register so Police and Te Tare Pūreke can trace back this unlawful activity.”

He says the requirements around safe storage of firearms are common sense and are there to prevent accidents and harm.

“On a different day the police attendance at this address, rather than to execute a search warrant, could have been in response to a terrible and needless tragedy.”

Albie say while the majority of the licenced firearms community are diligent and acting responsibly, unfortunately there are still those individuals who fail to meet the required standards of the most basic firearms safety.

“Firearms safety, particularly in the home with young children, has a small margin of error.”

The arrested men and their charges are:

• A 22-year-old charged with unlawful possession of a firearm x 6, dishonestly using a document x 2, and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
• A 28-year-old charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, dishonestly using a document, conspiring to defeat the course of justice, conspiring to sell firearms to unlicenced persons, intentionally not registering firearms, unlawful possession of prohibited magazines, and neglect of a child.
• A 33-year-old man charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, and dishonestly using a document.
• A 49-year-old man charged with unlawful possession of a firearm x 5, unlawful possession of a prohibited magazine x 2, unlawful possession of ammunition, and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
• A 60-year-old man charged with conspiring to defeat the course of justice, and conspiring to sell firearms to unlicenced persons.

All five will be appearing in the Nelson District Court on Monday 12 August 2024.